Monitor on-premises and multi-cloud AI agents with AgentCore Observability

Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Observability provides native tracing, monitoring, and analytics for AI agents built with frameworks like Strands Agents, LangGraph, and CrewAI, but only supports agents deployed on AgentCore runtime in the AWS Cloud. To set up observability for agents running outside AWS, users can configure the AWS Distro for OpenTelemetry (ADOT) auto-instrumentation in non-AWS environments and route telemetry to the AgentCore Observability dashboard. This solution uses ADOT, IAM credentials, and environment variables to export telemetry directly to the Amazon CloudWatch OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) endpoint. The practical implication for engineers building AI systems is that they can gain visibility into agent reasoning chains, tool invocations, and model outputs, allowing them to detect hallucinations, monitor for harmful or off-topic responses, and track token usage for cos

⚡ Key Takeaways

• The AWS Distro for OpenTelemetry (ADOT) handles the complexities of exporting telemetry from non-AWS environments.
• ADOT auto-instrumentation, IAM credentials, and environment variables are required to send telemetry from AI agents to Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Observability.
• The solution integrates several AWS services, including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon Bedrock AgentCore Observability, ADOT, and IAM.
• Observability is a foundational pillar of responsible AI, allowing users to detect hallucinations, monitor for harmful or off-topic responses, and track token usage for cost governance.
• The prerequisites for setting up observability include having an AWS account with Amazon Bedrock and verifying the necessary environment variables.

This solution is crucial for engineers building AI systems that require observability into their performance, especially when running outside AWS. By routing telemetry to AgentCore Observability, engineers can gain visibility into agent behavior and detect potential issues, ensuring responsible AI deployment.

✅ Practical Steps

1. Configure the AWS Distro for OpenTelemetry (ADOT) auto-instrumentation in non-AWS environments.
2. Set up IAM credentials to authenticate with CloudWatch and forward agent telemetry to the AgentCore Observability dashboard.
3. Define environment variables to contain specific OpenTelemetry settings related to routing and authentication.

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